Seems I wouldn't cut it as a wild-life photographer.

Sophie and I went for a bike ride today, round a local lake and then on to the library. I took a camera with me, thinking that there might be something interesting to photograph.

First photo opp : the two Egyptian geese and their three duck friends who always hang out together in a cheerful little group. They looked quite charming in a picture book kind of way, crossing the road on their way to the lake. But before I could get the camera out of my backpack, the bloody things started hissing menacingly and making towards us in a very threatening manner. So we beat a hasty and undignified retreat.

Next photo opp : a log at the water's edge, with fifteen or so turtles picturesquely sunning themselves on it. Only, as soon as we approached, splish splish splish, and now it's just an arbitrary log, no turtles.

A few hundred metres on - same thing. We hung out by the water's edge for a while, hoping that at least some of the turtles would climb back onto their log, but they were uncooperative. All that they would show of themselves were their skinny wrinkly necks, peeking up from the water.

On the way to the library, we had another definite National Geographic moment. A squirrel, running up a tree, with, bizarrely, a whole orange in its mouth. Must be a Florida thing. But again, the squirrel was too fast for us.

And finally, by the pool this afternoon, I was horrified to see Moo attempting to murder a snake. If I had true photo-journalist potential I'm sure I could have got a couple of good shots, but I was too busy trying to grab Moo, and feeling equal parts anxiety on my own behalf (aargh! a snake! the horror!), on Moo's behalf (what if the snake is not the harmless black racer that it seems?) and on the snake's (because Moo definitely had it on the run).

Stephen is now completely freaked out; he is distinctly snake-phobic and is unnerved by the fact that the snake was inside our screened pool enclosure. He is currently stomping around the house and harangueing anyone who'll listen about the importance of keeping screen doors closed and the prevalance of venomous snakes in Florida. Moo is looking smug, and Sophie is on the internet researching central Florida snakes.